London, 11 July

Joe Root completed his 37th hundred before Jasprit Bumrah struck thrice in a menacing spell to leave England at 353 for seven on day two of the second Test here on Friday.

In the second hour of play, Jamie Smith (51 batting off 53) and Brydon Carse (33 batting off 62) frustrated India, sharing an unbroken 82-run stand for the eighth wicket. The Dukes ball became a big talking point again with an unhappy Indian team getting red cherry changed twice in the session.

Resuming the day at 251 for four, England lost skipper Ben Stokes (44), Root (104) and Chris Woakes (0) in the first hour, courtesy the genius of Bumrah.

Smith was given a lifeline when KL Rahul dropped the in-form wicket-keeper batter off Mohammed Siraj.

Stokes was the first batter to be dismissed on the day. One ball after he square cut Bumrah, Stokes got a beauty from the Indian pace spearhead that seamed back in from round the wicket to hit the top of off-stump. There was nothing Stokes could do apart from shaking his head.

Root got out soon after reaching a record eighth Test hundred at Lord’s off the first delivery of the day. Bumrah drew Root forward but the ball came back in a share to take the inside edge before uprooting the middle-stump. It was the 11th time that Bumrah had got the better of England’s best batter in Tests.

The very next ball Woakes was caught behind, a faint tickle chasing a ball wide on the off-stump.

It was surprising that Shubman Gill wanted a ball change despite that second new Dukes ball being only around 10 overs old. The umpires accepted his request but the Indians were not happy with the replacement ball leading to an animated conversation between Gill and the umpires as England reached 307 for seven in the opening hour.

Soon after, the ball was changed for the second time in the session, adding to the debate over the balls used in England.

To their credit, Smith and Carse batted confidently against the Indian pacers with their ability to drive the ball through the covers standing out.